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The name comes from the past, but there is no nostalgia about the 2005 Chrysler 300C. It is an up-to-date take on the large American car, and a successful fruit of the Daimler-Chrysler merger.
Quick history lesson: Set the clock back 50 years, to the first Chrysler 300. It got its name from its engine's horsepower output. That engine was the first of the soon to be legendary Hemis (r), named for their efficient, free-breathing hemispherical combustion chambers. Chrysler had recently competed in La Carrera Panamerica, the famed Mexican Road Race, and suspension pieces developed for that were used with little modification. Had the term been in use in those days, the C300 would have been known as a serious sports sedan. It started a dynasty - the now-revered Chrysler 300 ``letter cars'' - that lasted through the mid-1960s. A few years back, Chrysler updated the concept with the 300M, a then-contemporary front-wheel drive, V6-powered car.
Although there are models available with V6 engines, the heart and soul of 2005 300 line is the 300C, for under its hood is the latest Chrysler ``Hemi'' V8 engine. It's not a direct descendent of the Hemi of yore, but it does have hemispherical combustion chambers, two pushrod-operated valves per cylinder, and a cast iron block like its namesake. There the similarities stop. The new engine is considerably smaller, lighter, and more efficient than the old one. Carburetors, whether single or twin four-barrel, or triple twins, have been replaced by electronic fuel injection. And, when maximum power is not needed, sophisticated electronic controls and mechanical parts turn it into a four-cylinder engine for improved fuel economy. Old Hemis were lucky to break into double digits; the new one, in the 300C, can see mid-twenties on the highway - and propel the car to 60 mph in just a touch over six seconds.
The Chrysler 300 and its platform-mate Dodge Magnum are the first cars built on a new rear-wheel drive platform. The transition from the previous full-size front-drive LH platform to this new one is as significant as the transition from the old K platform to the LH over a decade ago. And, as importantly, in this move Chrysler has access to the Mercedes parts bin. About 20 percent of the parts in the 300 are of Mercedes origin, including the suspension and the 300C's five-speed automatic transmission.
But the 300C is All (contemporary)-American in style and character. The early letter cars compared well with the large European sedans of their day, and the 300C can more than hold its own against any comparable European or Japanese sport-luxury sedan built today - most of which are considerably more expensive. Style meets substance in the 300C.
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